


Friendly Fire

by Redbyrd



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Episode: s04e09 Scorched Earth, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-12-01
Updated: 2004-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-14 01:00:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28537746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redbyrd/pseuds/Redbyrd
Summary: After SG-1 returned from P5S-381, the rumor mill started working overtime.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	Friendly Fire

**Author's Note:**

> There were a couple of things I thought Daniel should have said in the episode. Being Daniel, I couldn't see him saying them to Jack.

DISCLAIMER:  
The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.  
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Mendez selected a few tired-looking pancakes as the most appetizing of the breakfast options available in the cafeteria. He took his tray and looking around, took a seat opposite Barber from SG-5. "Morning." The other man nodded, pushing a mess of scrambled eggs around his plate. Mendez passed him the tobasco sauce. "Trust me, if you must eat eggs here, it's the best way." Looking past him, Mendez could see Daniel Jackson at a table a dozen yards away, a forkload of pancake forgotten in mid-air, as he read a sheaf of papers lying on the table beside his plate.

Barber laughed. "I can see you're an old hand." He poured the sauce liberally over the slimy mess and started eating it. Mendez shuddered. Barber followed his gaze in the direction of the oblivious archeologist and lowered his voice. "So you heard about what happened with the Enkarans?"

Mendez nodded. "Close one. Nobody thought they were going to manage to save anything from that mess." Actually the whole SGC was talking about the mission. The Gadmeer vessel had come close to eliminating the new Enkaran colony before it was even established, and SG-1 had been in the line of fire. Mendez had overheard at least three conversations in the breakfast line about it, and the speculation was only slightly muted by the presence of Dr. Jackson in the room.

Barber shook his had. "Naw, I mean that O'Neill actually triggered the bomb on the Gadmeer ship with Dr. Jackson still aboard." It was no secret that Hammond had vetoed military action, and the general run of opinion was that O'Neill had gone too far, and only Jackson's brilliant last-minute diplomatic solution had saved the day.

Mendez swallowed some coffee. "I heard. Tough call." He wasn't so sure. O'Neill had a formidable reputation and Mendez had been told that the Enkarans had refused to be evacuated. In any case, he wasn't going to judge on hearsay evidence. He remembered Daniel once telling him that it was his job to bring out the non-military point of view, even if it pissed people off. That it made for better decisions. That seemed to have been the case this time. Funny, some of the same people second-guessing O'Neill's decision now were the same ones who had publically criticized Jackson's actions on previous missions. He chewed a bite of pancake thoughtfully. "Easy to say woulda, coulda, shoulda after the fact. We weren't there."

Barber continued. "I don't really know any of SG-1 well, but the rumor is Hammond is thinking of breaking them up. Because of all the friction lately. Think there's anything to it?"

Mendez shrugged. "I've worked with SG-1 some. Mostly with Daniel, he's been out with my team a couple of times. They're the only SG team that still has all the same people from the start of the program and they regularly get the shittiest assignments going. Hell, if they aren't assigned trouble, they're more than capable of finding it on their own. High stress stuff. Surprising if that didn't generate friction occasionally."

Behind him, Mendez could hear a couple of rising voices that he pegged as guys new to the SGC, newer even than Barber, who at least had a few missions under his belt. One of them was saying, "So I hear O'Neill was ready to go against orders and blow away the whole civilization and Jackson along with it." Mendez glanced around to see if there were any more senior officers around, thinking that he might just want to tell those guys to button it before they disturbed Daniel, but he was too late. Jackson's head had whipped around to stare at them. Then he was dropping his fork and rising, tucking his papers under his arm and picking up his cup as he walked over to the table behind Mendez.

His tone was polite, but there was an unfamiliar edge to it. "Hi, I don't think we've met. Jeffers and Martin, isn't it?" Mendez turned around to see the two lieutenants regarding Daniel with surprise. "I'm Daniel Jackson." He set his cup on the table and pulled out a chair. "Don't get up. I thought that since you were having so much fun Monday-morning-quarterbacking, I'd tell you about a few plays."

Mendez realized that Daniel was angry and tried to remember if he'd ever seen the man angry before. He didn't think so. Probably that was why he was so often described as easygoing, despite an energy and drive that frequently ran into the ground the people who tried to keep up with him. Daniel was leaning forward and nailing the two younger men with a hard gaze that would have done credit to any SG team leader. Even though he was at a discomfortingly close distance for conversation, Daniel was projecting and his voice was clearly audible through the room. "I don't suppose it ever occurred to you gentlemen that Colonel O'Neill was right."

Mendez winced. Despite his deceptively soft voice, Daniel could easily make himself heard in a lecture hall unamplified. The professorial skill he'd demonstrated in the briefing room was probably verging on painful from a distance of three feet. The conversation in the cafeteria had died down to a murmur, as most of the personnel present eavesdropped unabashedly. Daniel couldn't have been as unaware of the general gossip as he had appeared, and clearly he was going to put his own spin on it. Mendez glanced around. In fact the only people who weren't staring at Jackson, Martin and Jeffers were the ones on the far side of the room, who were looking toward the door... Mendez swallowed as he saw Colonel O'Neill coming to an abrupt halt inside the door as he overheard Daniel's last sentence.

Daniel's voice took on a familiar lecturing tone, but with an edge of sarcasm. "You see, we had two choices- eliminate the Gadmeer, a seed capable of the rebirth of an ancient civilization but still only a piece of machinery and data storage, or sacrifice the Enkarans- several thousand living breathing people whose only mistake was in trusting us to help them find a new place to live." He studied the two men. "Pretty crummy options, both of them. Finding another one was my job, but there wasn't any time. And since we didn't have time, Colonel O'Neill had to take steps to protect the people we promised to help. It was the marginally less bad of a pair of lousy solutions. I had every intention of getting off that ship before it blew, but I trusted Colonel O'Neill to go ahead and stop the Gadmeer if I couldn't." Mendez wondered if Daniel meant 'couldn't stop the Gadmeer' or 'couldn't get off the ship'. Both, he decided.

Lieutenant Martin mumbled something inaudible to anyone but Daniel, but the reply made it clear what his question had been. "The naquada reactor bomb? Of course he made it an order. It was his responsibility. If you want to know Major Carter's opinion, I suggest you ask *her*. From a ..safe.. distance."

Mendez heard a soft snort from nearby and a whispered, "Yeah, 'a safe distance'- lightyears would be good." He was pretty sure that was Simmonds, one of the tech group and a guy who'd worked with Major Carter enough to know her well. O'Neill had crossed his arms and was leaning against the wall near the door, watching his teammate with a perfectly blank expression. Mendez decided he wouldn't want to play poker with the man.

Daniel wasn't quite finished. "Have you ever had to fire on a friendly position, Lieutenant?" He looked from one to the other, and got a pair of mumbled 'no-sir's. "Well, I have. Been there, done that, still have the nightmares, thanks very much."

Mendez blinked and cast his mind back. What was he talking about? Oh. Must mean the Russian sub thing. O'Neill and Teal'c had been overwhelmed and trapped by the replicator bugs, and Jackson had given the order to blow the sub, mere seconds before Carter and the Asgard had zoomed in to save the day. That had been another nine-days-wonder around the water cooler at the time.

Daniel was still talking. "So believe me, when your turn comes- you better pray that you're the guy on the ground trying to solve the problem instead of the guy getting ready to pull the trigger- or give the order- to kill a friend. It's a lot easier to live with."

Jeffers and Martin seemed frozen to their seats, and there wasn't a sound in the cafeteria as Dr. Jackson got up, picked up his coffee cup and headed for the exit. Mendez was pretty sure a lot of people were actually holding their breath. Possibly including him. Daniel only slightly broke stride as he saw his team leader standing beside the door, and flushed a little. O'Neill said, "Hey."

Daniel replied. "Jack."

"You finished with that report on P5S-381?" O'Neill's tone was perfectly calm and ordinary, though Mendez wondered if he wasn't a fraction more relaxed and less tired than he had been when he first walked through the door.

"No, I had a question I wanted to ask Sam.." Daniel matched his casual tone and fell into step with O'Neill as they turned toward the hall, their postures momentarily so similar, they could have been brothers.

The cafeteria erupted in a muted babble of noise and nervous laughter as the two men disappeared and Mendez grinned. "You were saying?"

Barber blinked and took a minute to remember where they had broken off the conversation. "Hammond isn't going to break up SG-1, is he?" It wasn't a question.

Mendez picked up his cup. "I don't think he could if he tried."


End file.
